LES of a Meso Combustion Chamber with a Detailed Chemistry Model: Comparison between the Flamelet and EDC Models

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the design of high-performance mesocombustors, a field currently under rapid development, in particular for propulsion, e.g., for UAVs, and micro/meso-electrical power generators. This study is focused on a cylindrical combustor of 29 cm³, fuelled by methane and air, which provides 2 kW of thermal power. The device was entirely designed and built at the Sapienza University of Rome and coupled with an ultra-micro turbine. Two 3D LES simulations with detailed chemistry are presented. They differ only for the combustion models, so that a model comparison can be carried out. The calculated maximum temperature inside the chamber, the gas exhaust temperature and the combustion efficiency are compared and discussed. The results, reported at two different physical times, show the effects of the different combustion models, which predict different temperature and species concentration maps, but similar values for the combustion efficiency. Thermal, chemical and kinematic maps show that the Eddy Dissipation Concept allows for a more accurate estimatation of the performance parameters for application to first-order design procedures.